Happy Birthday John Milton

Hippie

Today is the birthday of John Milton. Who is John Milton you ask? Well, John wrote the famous "Areopagitica" from where our precious site got its name from.

John Milton was born in London, England in 1608. He wrote and published numerous controversial essays and pamphlets on many political subjects. His most famous writings were in defense of divorce and freedom of the press.

John Milton was a poet, writer and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England, serving under Oliver Cromwell. When Cromwell was overthrown from the Commonwealth and the monarchy was again restored in England, many of Milton's writings were burned and he was arrested. A younger poet by the name of Andrew Marvell intervened getting John out of jail and probably saving him from death.

Milton by this time was blind, probably from the affects of glaucoma. His friend Andrew Marvell encouraged him to continue to write byusing assistants. He ended up writing the epic poem "Paradise Lost" which took him six years to complete, having to dictate the poem to his various assistants. "Paradise Lost", sold to his publisher for 10 pounds, was published in 1667.

Information from Wikipedia and The Writer's Almanac

_________________"I may be going to hell in a bucket, babe But at least I'm enjoying the ride"~Grateful Dead